Twilight was captured, her hooves and wings bound by red chains and anchored to the ground. The mysterious and darker unicorn look-alike was watching her closely like a predator sizing up their prey.
“Who are you? Why do you look like me?” Twilight struggled against the chains, they were like weights growing heavier by the minute the more she moved.
“Don’t bother, your powerful spirit will just go to waste.” The other Twilight laughed, ignoring her questions before brandishing the sword with her magic. The remaining bats surrounded them both and darkened the skies as she stepped forward.
“Now I’ll be complete!” She cried out triumphantly with a hungry look in her eyes.
The chains tightened and Twilight’s vision blurred. These chains were making her weaker as her doppelganger drew closer readying her blade. But she had to keep trying; she'd muster whatever magic she had to get out of this.
The sword was thrusted at her and Twilight’s horn sparked. Her necklace suddenly glowed and she felt a surge of power flowing through her. The chains shattered as a wave of magic erupted from Twilight, blowing back the other unicorn into a nearby building with a crash. The bats scattered as a pillar of light shot into the air from her horn.
Twilight was now wearing a purple hooded jacket. Her eyes wide awake and shining as the burst of energy emanated from her body.
The bats flew into a frenzy before converging into a massive wave and swooped in on her but she was ready this time. In an instant she teleported with a flash onto one of the buildings. The wave of bats crashed down onto where she’d been before following her to the rooftops. Twilight leapt towards them firing a large blast of magic from her horn .The bats were engulfed in the purple beam, many falling out of the mass and dissolving without a trace.
Twilight landed and took a deep breath before she stared curiously at the blast impact. It was a lot more powerful than she had intended and the strange bats had disappeared as if they'd been erased by her magic. It was unnatural...
“Now where’s that other me?” She frowned and looked back to where she’d left her adversary.
Said pony was against the wall of an orange building and unconscious. There was a large crack from where Twilight’s magic had knocked her into and her sword lay bent by her side. Her appearance had changed, she still had the fangs but now a pale blue coat, a long straight green mane, plum coloured dress.
Twilight even spotted a crack on her horn and stared at her clothes. However she examined her own attire curiously and tapped her necklace. It really was like one of Spike’s comic books. But if she’d defeated the ‘villain’ she would have been transported back to her own home.
There was a slight rumbling and a large gust of wind blew in through one of the alleyways. A number of strange ruby bats were carried along with it and dissolved. The aqua green stallion wearing the hat from before appeared again glancing around before he blinked at Twilight looking puzzled.
“Oh...hey again.” He glanced at Twilight and then at the mare lying unconscious and then nodded in approval.
“Ah, so you’re the real Twilight Sparkle. Seems I made a mistake, so sorry about that..”
“Mistake!? She didn’t even have wings!” Twilight frowned at the pony and then shook her head. Pointing at the stallion and then at the other pony.
“Alicorns are rare but-” He began but Twilight interrupted him.
“Who are you anyway? And who the heck is she?”
“Noland or Nol for short,” He tipped his hat. “...and that would be Kamella, she’s what you’d call a vampony. Though I see you’ve taken care of her.”
Noland walked over to said pony and punted the broken horn.
“A vampony, seriously!?” Twilight stared at the pony's fangs and then shivered, putting a hoof to her heart.
“I need to get out of here. Wherever this place is anyway.”
She gulped and looked over at Noland as he examined the bent sword and the building damage. She wasn’t sure if she could trust this pony but he didn’t seem hostile as of now.
“I’m looking for my friends. We were sucked into some form of a portal in the sky. Have you seen any other ponies around here?”
Noland glanced back at her and shook his head. He then kicked the sword off into the distance.
“Sounds like you got sucked into a gate and I haven’t seen anyone else besides you and Kamella in this town.”
He then frowned looking up into the sky. As several more of the strange red bats began to appear again. This time they were larger, had bigger fangs and now their tattoo-ed wings were like winged blades.
“Though it’ll be better if we talk later and in a safer location. I need to locate the rest of my guild, so maybe we should work together for now.”
Twilight’s eyes widened as the sky was filled with more screeching. A few bats dived towards Noland but there was a brief flash of green from the badge on his hat. A strong gust of wind blasted them back into the air again with a swing of his hoof.
“Those monsters will come at you out of nowhere. It’ll be safer if you joined the guild as a temporary member.
Noland gestured for her to follow him and levitated a card out of his scarf as more bats swooped in. Twilight appeared next to him in a flash and her horn sparked forming a purple dome of light around the two.
“Well...as long as I can find my friends.”
She nodded to him as several bats bounced harmlessly off her shield.
“Great!”
A glint appeared in Noland’s eye as he tossed the card in front of him. It disappeared in a flash of blue light leaving behind a portal. There was another town on the other side that looked just like the one they were standing in.
Twilight peered into it puzzled, she’d never studied anything about cards forming portals, pendants maybe but-
Noland had already jumped in excitedly so she shrugged and followed after him. Her barrier disappeared and the sound of screeching in the air returned.
“What a waste.”
A masked white unicorn sighed sitting in an equally white room. He was wearing a blue magician's robe, a black top hat with a red brimm and comedy mask with a star drawn over the left eye. He used his magic to levitate a shining crystal ball watching Twilight and Noland exit through a portal.
“She was too slow. Twilight Sparkle has already awakened to her new power. We won’t be able to fully complete Shroud without her magic.”
He put a hoof to his lavender mane in thought and the orb disappeared. Another masked unicorn entered the white space but with a purple coat and silver mane. He was levitating a stack of playing cards.
The unicorn greeted the newcomer and chuckled to himself.
“We’ll just have to wing it. Fix him up later with what we have left then.”
The purple unicorn nodded and prepared to leave but the white one waved a hoof.
“Oh...and fetch our little pawn too while you’re at it. Can’t have her ending up with those Tin cans again.”
The portal closed behind Twilight after she jumped in and the card had reappeared. It floated past her towards Noland who whistled before he caught it and turned his attention to a box near a large fountain.
They were in the same city but now the sun had set. The atmosphere was more relaxing rather than unsettling as Twilight glanced around. There were some odd ripples in the sky as if it was the ocean surface. However she felt at ease… for now anyway.
“Where do I even begin? What is this place? And why is there a strange town with a vampony and bats chasing me?” She asked after catching her breath.
“You’re in the Dreamspace, it’s like you entered a dream. But you’re not sleeping, you’re literally in one.”
Noland took another card out of the box, this one with a star symbol on it and levitated it over to Twilight.
“Though right now we’re in a special place a friend of mine created. Think of it like a rest area that those monsters can’t reach. It’s a work in progress.”
Twilight caught the card and frowned a bit at the sight of it. Her cutie mark appeared on it and the card became a shade of lavender. No comic book dimension this time like she had considered if his words were true.
“The dream worlds then?”
“Dream worlds? I guess that’s another term for it,” Noland gave a shrug and then smiled excitedly and nodded to her. “ Welcome to the Starcade Guild! You’re now a temporary member and have access to certain privileges such as the rest area for starters.”
“Er thanks? So what does your guild actually do?” Twilight examined the card briefly and then levitated it into her jacket’s pocket.
“Axl, Glyde and myself were on a rescue mission within the Dreamspace but we got separated upon entry.”
Noland leaned against the fountain and put a hoof to his chin.
“The pony we were looking for is a prisoner in that tower. But going near it causes more monsters to appear and that's how I ran into Kamella.”
“Maybe my friends are there too?” Twilight asked and recalled the card she received at the tower entrance. “The whole town filled with colour once I got close to it. Must be some kind of magic reacting to me atleast.”
“Might be why Kamella was after you. I guess we’ll have to try the tower again.”
“I need to practice too,” She gazed at her necklace for a moment. “ I feel my magic’s stronger than usual. I received a boost of some kind when that vampony attacked me.”
“You came to the right place then,” Noland stretched against the fountain for a moment and then smiled at her. “You can warm up here before we head back.”
Twilight pondered this for a moment and then nodded.
“Well I guess I don’t have much of a choice then.”
Everypony please be safe.
She thought to herself and then turned her attention to Noland.
“By the way I’ve seen you use magic with your hoof but never seen you take off your hat. Are you really a unicorn?”
Noland smiled at her and tapped his hat confidently.
“Yes and no.”